NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The UK government has awarded £1.1 million ($1.8 million) to the Roslin Institute's ARK-Genomics Centre for Comparative and Functional Genomics to conduct large-scale genome sequencing-based studies of livestock and other related species.
The funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council will support ARK-Genomics' investments in new DNA sequencing technologies and increase its automation capabilities, BBSRC said on Wednesday.
The lab provides a range of genomics research services including DNA sequencing, gene expression analysis using sequencing and microarrays, high-throughput genotyping, and data collection and analysis.
The sequencing services the center provides use the Illumina HiSeq 2000/2500 for next-generation sequencing and the ABI 3730 for Sanger sequencing. It also offers all of the commercially available microarray tools from Affymetrix, Illumina, Agilent, and NimbleGen.
Roslin Institute Director David Hume said in a statement that the ARK-Genomics lab has established "key strategic alliances" with China's BGI and the National Institute of Animal Biotechnology in Hyderabad, India, and that the funding will help support these and other partnerships.